World welcomes its ‘seven billionth person’

Danica May Camacho, born in a crowded public hospital in Manila, was welcomed with a chocolate cake marked “7B Philippines” and a gift certificate for free shoes. There were bursts of photographers’ flashes, and speeches by local officials.

The celebrations reflected symbolism more than demography.

Amid the millions of births and deaths around the world each day, it is impossible to pinpoint the arrival of the globe’s 7 billionth occupant. But the UN chose yesterday to mark the day with a string of festivities worldwide, and a series of symbolic seven-billionth babies being born.

Danica was the first, arriving at Manila’s Jose Fabella Memorial Hospital at two minutes before midnight on Sunday – but doctors say that was close enough to count for a Monday birthday.

“She looks so lovely,” the mother, Camille Galura, whispered as she cradled the 5.5lb baby, who was born about a month premature.

The baby was the second for Ms Galura and her partner, Florante Camacho, a struggling driver who supports the family on a tiny salary.

The UN estimates the world’s population will reach 8 billion by 2025 and 10 billion by 2083. But the numbers could vary widely, depending on everything from life expectancy to access to birth control to infant mortality rates.

In Uttar Pradesh, India – the most populous state in the world’s second-most populous country – officials said they would be appointing seven girls born yesterday to symbolise the 7 billion.

India, which struggles with a deeply held preference for sons and a skewed sex ratio because of millions of aborted female foetuses, is using the day to highlight that issue. “It would be a fitting moment if the 7 billionth baby is a girl born in rural India,” said Dr Madhu Gupta, an Uttar Pradesh gynaecologist.